Page 55 of Here Be Dragons

“Please, Carly. I need you to understand.”

Tentatively, I reached for the chest. I don’t know what I expected to see, but fragments of a giant broken eggshell, a child’s leather shoe with shiny brass buckles, fuschia and purple scales of differing sizes, a small claw wrapped in a leather thong and made into a necklace, and a tiny toy sword definitely weren’t it.

When I didn’t immediately touch any of the items, Desmon reached around me, picked up the largest of the shell fragments, and put it in my hand. I saw an image of a much younger Desmon, not that he looked old now, sitting in his human form next to a sparkling red and purple egg about the size of a pumpkin, reading to it. They were inside a castle that reminded me of the second floor of his current home, but this was clearly another time and another place. Then the scene changed, showing Desmon, now in his dragon form, curled around the egg at night, sleeping.

The weight of something infinitely important settled in my consciousness.

Holding my breath, I put the shard of eggshell down and I reached for one of the smaller scales. I saw a tiny dragon, purple and pink, not much bigger than a cat, and completely helpless. Desmon held it in his arms, cradling it like a baby.

Behind me, I heard a sharp intake of air from Desmon, but nothing more.

I reached for the next item, the toy sword. This one didn’t give me an image, but I heard the sound of a boy laughing followed by Desmon’s voice, equally jovial, and then the boy replying. I couldn’t make out the words, but I felt their happiness and love, and their feeling that together they could conquer the universe.

Then the shoe. This time there were no words. Instead, I found myself running through the woods, panicking. I’d been playing with the boys from the village and they’d brought me into a barn. Their sires had been waiting for me inside, led by a man in shining metal. They were going to kill me. So I ran. I looked down, my eyes landing on the leather shoes on my feet, then up at the sky, wishing I was big enough to fly. But I wasn’t, not yet. I wasn’t going to make it home!

When the vision ended, I was panting for air as if I’d really been there, running for my life.

“Be calm, Carly. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not really happening. You are safe here with me.”

I turned and looked up into Desmon’s face. He suddenly looked much older.

“One more,” he encouraged. “For me. The claw. But be warned: it’s bad.”

I reached for the claw and was greeted with a searing pain so strong in my hand that I snatched it away. But I wasn’t a quitter. I reached for it again and gritted through the pain.

The next image was of a small dragon, sprawled lifeless on the leaf litter of an ancient forest. Then, the scene jumped to a village.

I was the claw now, and I was being held aloft by a knight in armor, like a trophy. Around me, the town exploded in thunderous applause. I watched as the boys I’d thought were my friends were gifted real swords for their bravery. Their mothers beamed with pride. The villagers celebrated long into the night as I watched, horrified, from around a man’s neck. Then, there was a loud screech, and a red and orange dragon appeared in the sky, spewing dragon fire and rage. Elation filled me. My sire was here! Everything would be all right now!

I was sobbing, gasping for air, when Desmon took the claw from my hand. Then he wrapped himself around me, comforting me when I should be the one comforting him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” I sobbed.

“I never told you. I never told anyone.” He carried me to the nest and climbed inside. Then, lying in a half-shift so he could wrap his wings around me, he told me his story.

Chapter 30

Desmon

“The village was therebefore I arrived,” I said, closing my eyes with the memory. “They didn’t know what I was at first, not with The Wall working its magic. I was just the wealthy traveler who’d settled in a castle atop the big hill. The village was never very well off: the villagers often had difficulty keeping themselves fed over the winter.

“After a particularly bad harvest one year, they came knocking at my castle gates, begging for help. Just a little bit of assistance to help them through the meager months.”

“What did you do?” Carly was listening raptly.

“It didn’t cost me much, and I found watching the village entertaining at times, so I agreed. I bought them enough grain to fill their silos and allowed them to hunt on my land in the winter months, with the clause that they couldn’t take any beasts larger than a dog, and any gold they found on the land was to be brought to me. I was very immersed in dragon affairs at the time and had no use for human sacrifices or any other silly rituals.”

Carly made a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a laugh at the mention of human sacrifices, but otherwise said nothing. So, I continued.

“Somewhere along the way, the villagers started bringing me offerings of thanks every autumn. Extra bushels of wheat, a dozen chickens. A cow. And as the village began to flourish under my protection, silver and gold coins.

“I got bored with dragon matters and started watching my people more closely. I envied them their families. My family consisted of a mother who had been slain, an unknown sire, and a brother who had managed to survive even though custom dictated that I destroy him before he was even hatched.”

Carly nodded, probably remembering her meeting with Emmett.

“This was when I made my first mistake. I contracted with a dragoness for an egg, making sure to have written in blood thatthe resulting dragonlet would be solely mine and not hers as well. I stayed with this egg, caring for it, watching over it, excited to be a father.”

“I felt that when I touched the shell. You read to it.”

---